Fashion designer Patrick Robinson is out at A/X Armani Exchange. According to Page Six, this happened along with recent buzz that some of his accessory designs for the brand were very similar to that of David Yurman.
Robinson signed on as creative director of Armani Exchange in March 2013 and was let go quietly several weeks ago. At the time it was said the reason was because his collection did not do well. Others say the reason was the design for his “torc” bracelet for Armani Exchange’s men’s collection made from recycled bullets and handguns, with proceeds going to nonprofit Liberty United to fight gun violence, was too close to Yurman’s iconic cable cuff bracelets design. David Yurman fired off a legal letter to Armani Exchange demanding it stop selling the bracelets.
An Armani Exchange rep said, “Patrick Robinson left the brand amicably several weeks ago. His departure and this alleged claim of the Yurman’s sending us a cease-and-desist letter are entirely unrelated.”
Robinson was creative director at The Gap from 2007 to 2011, until he was let go after sales tanked. In 2013, he launched his own line of men’s lounge wear, Paskho, sold exclusively through Kickstarter. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Robinson worked for Giorgio Armani, Perry Ellis, Anne Klein and Paco Rabanne earlier in his career.
He is married to Virginia Smith, Vogue’s market director for fashion and accessories. Couldn’t she have noticed the David Yurman bracelet similarity, and warned him?
– Carol Calacci
Source and Photo: Page Six
